Innovation. It’s what every client is talking about at the moment.  Why?  Because, as a result of recession-induced budget cuts, the past couple of years have seen an extended period of innovation inactivity for brands.  Instead of investing in NPD, brands have been under continued pressure to massively discount to entice short term sales—but at the same time, by entering a price war they have commoditised their offer and lost the brand essence which justified consumers buying their product over cheaper branded or own label products.